Employee Net Promoter Score: How to Measure & Improve It

What is Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)?

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a simple metric that measures employee’s sentiments and satisfaction by asking how likely someone in your team is to recommend your company to people in their network.

The score is based on this one survey question, answered on a 0–10 scale, and groups employees into three categories:

• Promoters (9–10): Highly engaged advocates who strengthen culture and reputation.
• Passives (7–8): Generally satisfied but not fully committed, at risk of leaving if a better offer appears.
• Detractors (0–6): Disengaged employees who may be unhappy, actively looking to leave, or sharing negative feedback externally.

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5 Examples of Employee Net Promoter Score Questions

Although the eNPS survey is made up of one core question and rating like “How likely are you to recommend [Your Company Name] as a place to work? (core eNPS question).”

You can include a couple of additional eNPS questions that will help you build context around the “why” of each score. Here are a few examples of additional questions you can include in your eNPS score:

• What is the primary reason for your score? (open-text follow-up)
• I see opportunities to grow my career here. (agree/disagree)
• I feel recognized for my contributions. (agree/disagree)
• I would recommend my manager/leadership team to others. (agree/disagree)
• My benefits align with my needs/wants. (agree/disagree)

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How to Implement an eNPS Survey

Ready to get started? Follow these steps to make sure your eNPS survey rollout is effective, trustworthy, and one that leaders can act on:

1. Make Your Goals Clear: Decide what you’re measuring for this round, whether it be overall experience, onboarding, or leadership. Use it to tailor your core eNPS question and the four or five follow up questions.

1. Pick Your Tools: Use survey platforms (e.g., Typeform, SurveyMonkey) or HR integrations like Polly that can be deployed in Slack/Teams.
2. Keep it Anonymous: Only share results in group summaries (never individual responses) so employees feel safe giving honest feedback.
3. Set a Schedule and Stick to it: We recommend a monthly cadence for fast moving teams and quarterly eNPS for established companies where not much changes from month-to-month.
4. Encourage Participation: Respect employees’ time and they’ll be more likely to engage. Keep surveys mobile-friendly, under 90 seconds, and send 1–2 reminders. Consider small recognition incentives, like fun raffles or team shout-outs to lift response rates without making participation feel forced.
5. Act Fast: The worst mistake you can make with these (other than naming and shaming)? Collecting feedback and sitting on it. Always share back “you said this, we did this to try and improve” updates within two weeks. Even small visible changes build trust and encourage higher participation next time.

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How to Calculate eNPS

Once you’ve sent out your survey and gathered a decent number of responses from your team, it’s time to collate the data and calculate your eNPS. The formula is simple:

eNPS = (% Promoters − % Detractors)
(Passives are excluded from the calculation.)

Let’s break it down, step-by-step:

• Step 1 – Calculate % Promoters: Total number of promoters/total number of employees who submitted the eNPS x 100
• Step 2 – Calculate % Detractor: Total number of detractors/total number of employees who submitted the eNPS x 100
• Step 3 – Calculate eNPS: % Promoters − % Detractors

Now let’s try it with an example:

Grace’s baked goods company conducted an eNPS to gauge whether their employees are satisfied with their jobs or if there is anything they can do to improve their experience.

70 of their bakers participated. 35 of them scored as promoters, 20 as passives, and 15 as detractors.

• Step 1 – Calculate % Promoters: (35/70) x 100 = 50%
• Step 2 – Calculate % Detractor: (15/70) x 100 =21.429%
• Step 3 – Calculate eNPS: 50% - 21.429% = 28.57

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eNPS Benchmarks and Interpretation

Remember, eNPS scores can range from -100 to +100. Looking at your overall eNPS alongside segmented scores helps uncover patterns across teams or regions. Here’s how to interpret your score:

• Below 0: Needs urgent fixes
• +10 to +49: Good-Great
• +50: Excellent! High eNPS, showing your culture is working!

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Build Retention Strategies That Work

Playroll’s automated onboarding and employee management tools cut admin and manual errors in half, giving HR leaders real-time insights to act on. That means more time to focus on what really drives engagement, like closing feedback loops and building the kind of culture employees want to stay for.

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Benefits of Using eNPS

In the era of distributed work, eNPS will give you and your HR teams a quick and reliable pulse survey on engagement and loyalty, all without the heavy lift of long, complex surveys. It provides one clear number that reflects how employees feel about your company. More importantly, it can help your organization build the kind of open, growth-oriented culture where employees feel heard, valued, and motivated to stick around.

Here are some of the top benefits of implementing an eNPS:

Gain Insights into Retention

One core question gives you a clear read on how employees feel about your company. Because eNPS is closely linked to loyalty, it acts as an early indicator of whether your retention strategy is working or if it needs adjusting. This is particularly important in the increasingly competitive global talent landscape.

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Check out our top 10 employee retention strategies.

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Improve Engagement

Employees feel most engaged when they believe their voice matters and their feedback leads to action. eNPS provides a structured way to ask for input and then demonstrate change. When teams see their feedback shaping decisions, they feel connected to the company’s vision and motivated to contribute to its success.

Empower Managers

Strong managers are one of the biggest drivers of engagement. eNPS feedback highlights where managers are excelling and where they need more support. With this insight, leaders can take targeted action, strengthening team relationships and becoming more effective at guiding performance and growth.

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12 Actionable Tips to Manage employees as a first-Time Leader

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Strengthen Hybrid Collaboration

Listening to and developing effective solutions for employee concerns across different locations and time zones can be really challenging. eNPS makes it easier to develop strategies that actually work by creating a simple and easy-to-use platform that your entire workforce can engage with. This consistent feedback loop helps create an inclusive space for both local and distributed teams.

Boost Confidence in Benefits

Compensation and benefits directly influence loyalty, but your offering might be outdated or misaligned with your team’s expectations. eNPS feedback can pull the veil back and give you better visibility over these elements. Once you know where your gaps are, you can adjust your offerings, reinforce trust with your team, and keep your workplace competitive in the talent market.

Help Cut Costs

High turnover is expensive both from a talent and time perspective. The feedback from eNPS’s can help you address reasons your team might leave, from recognition gaps to workload issues. By addressing these directly before they happen, you can invest resources where they have the most impact, keeping your team effective and avoiding unnecessary spending on ineffective initiatives.

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How to Use Employee Net Promoter Score to Improve Engagement

Collecting the data and working out your eNPS is only the first step in the process. The real impact comes from turning feedback into tangible improvements that keep employees loyal and engaged. Here’s how to make eNPS data work for you based on what they reveal:

Fix Payroll and Compliance Friction

When detractors point to pay issues, it’s a major red flag. Payroll errors and delays don’t just frustrate employees, they directly erode trust. With more than 54% of employees reporting payroll errors and more than half saying they’d quit their job because of payroll problems, this should be your first “hygiene” factor to assess and address.

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Support Managers

Managers play the biggest role in shaping daily employee experience, so if eNPS results highlight inconsistent leadership, focus on manager enablement. Use the survey feedback to identify which managers need coaching, then support them with tools like weekly 1:1s, clearer priorities, and leadership training.

Recognize Contributions

Promoters often cite recognition as a reason they’d recommend their workplace, while detractors call it out when it’s missing. Build on this insight by introducing lightweight recognition programs like peer-to-peer shout-outs, team awards, or leadership acknowledgments.

Invest in Growth

If feedback shows employees don’t see a future at the company, engagement will likely drop fast if it hasn’t already. An eNPS can help you spot this trend before it leads to high turnover. Strengthen your retention strategy by offering micro-learning, career path visibility, and internal mobility programs that keep your team moving forward.

Balance Workload and Flexibility

Survey comments often reveal workload imbalance or lack of flexibility as detractor themes. Regularly audit your team’s schedules, amount of meetings, and shift length to identify pressure points. Acting proactively signals to employees that you’re listening and willing to adapt for their wellbeing.

Close the Loop

Nothing damages eNPS more than asking for feedback and doing nothing with it. Always communicate back: “Here’s what we heard, and here’s what we’re doing.” Even small, visible changes show you’re serious about listening and they’ll help build momentum for bigger cultural shifts.

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Reduce Your HR Burden with Playroll

eNPS gives you a simple, powerful compass for retention, but raising your score requires more than listening. It means tackling the everyday friction points that drive disengagement in a way that will make a genuine difference to your team.

That’s where partnering with an EOR like Playroll can make the difference. By guaranteeing accurate, on-time global payroll, offering competitive employee benefits across countries, and removing compliance risks, we ensure the basics are never a barrier to engagement.

When these fundamentals run smoothly, employees feel secure, valued, and proud to recommend your workplace – doing exactly what eNPS is designed to measure. Book a demo with our team today to get started.